The Heart of the Sea is about the whaleship Essex and is the basis for Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. The author is Nathaniel Philbrick and the story is based on notes written by Thomas Nickerson found in 1960 in an old trunk. Nickerson's account differs from that written by Owen Chase the ship's first mate shortly after their rescue.
The Essex sailed from Nantucket in 1819. It sailed under poor conditions, did not find whales where expected, went to the South Pacific, and was rammed by a whale. The survivors set out in small boats for a 3,000-mile trip to South America. The eight survivors had to eat their dead shipmates to survive.
A riveting story.
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Don
Subject: The Heart of the Sea 
Mon 1 Oct 2007 - 21:32
